


Samhain

by velvet_sometimes



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Adults, Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark, Dark Jareth, Dark Magic, Dark Sarah, Decaying Labyrinth, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Glitter, Goblin Jareth, Goblin Queen, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Literary References & Allusions, Magic, Monsters, Movie Reference, Romance, Samhain, Seelie Court, Sexual Content, Trials, implied BDSM, mentions of sex acts, thirteen hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-02-03 00:17:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1724129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvet_sometimes/pseuds/velvet_sometimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Samhian is the the largest and most important Festival to the celtic tribes; It's the marker between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. Called the day when light doesn't exist. Today we call its All Saints Day. Or Halloween.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Samhain

Ordinary  
Such a simple word; word; ordinary. Eight letters, four syllables, one word. Thirteen.   
Most things added up to thirteen now. Her kingdom _was_ supposedly as great as his own after all, and her world was morphing to reflect it. Everything was changing. Even her.   
Trails of glitter followed her every movement; shimmering like magic in the air.   
Goblins shadowed her on the street and beckoned to her from the trees. They called her the Queen, and bowed when she passed.  
Things that broke fixed themselves, and everything had a heartbeat that pounded like drums in her ears. All of her clocks grew a thirteenth hour and tonged with all the dramaticism of _him_.   
Time always slowed down then. She could feel it in the air; it made her want to shiver and arch her spine. The feeling always made her laugh, sounding like a rumble of thunder, like bedroom laughter. Sometimes she could hear _him_ joining in. But then sometimes she didn't. He was merely a whisper. An intangible thought from a moment sometime in a past that was unreachable now.   
Now, she was _merely_ beautiful, strange Sarah. Others didn't understand her, didn't see the things she did. Couldn't. All they saw was the ordinary when she saw far past extraordinary.   
She had danced with the Fae and had partaken of their food; she no longer belonged in this world and yet was unable to leave. She was Magic and not. Something distinctly other lurked beneath the surface of her skin that in equal measure attracted and repelled everyone who happened to try and get close.   
She was caught in the limbo of real and make-believe and reveled in every moment of it. 

\-----

Backwards  
 _The way forward is sometimes the way back_. The Wiseman had told her that once.   
She hadn't know what those words had meant then, or how they would trap her. But she did now, as she flipped though book after book about the Fae, she knew.   
She spent her life looking for _him_. Looking for a way back. Sitting in the dusty attic of her dusty old house, staring at the mirror she had taken with her from home. The one from her dresser with the portal into _his_ world. The world that half belonged to her.   
She couldn't cross through it though. No matter how hard she tried. Her friends could come to her, but she could never go to them.   
They were not who she wanted to see, but _he_ never came when she called. She only heard his laughter on the wind when she tried.   
She couldn't go backwards; not if she wanted to get to him. And she did, so much it made her ache. He was her only tie to either world, to which she belonged in neither. Not without him.   
He could fight it all he liked, but he belonged to her. Just as much as she did to him. And she was going to win this game of his, somehow.   
From the mirror, the reflection of a shadow beckoned to her from the corner of the dark attic; and she waved it forward.   
She could see it as it curled silently across the creaky wood, darkening in the center but fading out around the edges, melting into a small goblin that stood at her elbow. Watching her though the mirror the same way she did it; it's dingy armor shining in the sparse light from her attic window.   
“I don't need a babysitter. If you want to make yourself useful, got tell your brethren to get out of my dish soap. And tell Jareth I'm coming for him while you’re at it.” She then dismissed his from notice, waving him away.  
“Yes Queeny.” The little creature faded like smoke, leaving her once again alone in the half light of the empty space. 

\-----

Candlelight  
Sarah wasn't sure why candlelight made her feel more aware. Maybe it was the shadows that licked at the edges of her, the ones that were more than just darkness. She knew they were always there, watching, waiting. Hers to command and control.   
And _he_ was always closer in the dark. She could almost feel the brush of his hair against her cheek and his teeth on the shell of her ear anytime it was too dark to see.   
Though he took some perverse joy out of escalating his attentions when she was in public. Running phantom hands across her sides, down her back, smoothing out across her ribs to barely brush against the underside of her breasts. Nothing more substantial than lightest of touches, feeling more like wind than flesh.  
But the heat remained. And that made her want to provoke him all the more.   
Tonight she could feel him stronger than normal. He was restless; shifting against the edges of her awareness, prowling just out of reach. Perhaps because it was Samhain. It was the marker between the Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, and called the day when light didn't exist. Now it was referred to as All Saints Day. Or Halloween.   
There was a reason it was said the veil between was thinner tonight than any other day of the year. Spirits could cross between the worlds tonight easier than any other night of the year.   
And Sarah planned on doing just that.   
As she lit the last candle and doused the flickering overhead, She could feeling the rippling in the air. The difference.   
This was it. It was time. 

\-----

Change  
The Labyrinth is a spiritual tool, it represents wholeness and the journey into one’s self; a continual path to the center and out again. They are oftentimes confused with Mazes, which are twisted and turned and full of blind alleys and dead ends. More of a puzzle to be solved rather than a unicursal path. A labyrinth, on the other hand, is supposed to be a meandering, but purposeful path to which the way in is the way out.  
The thought of calling The Underground a _Labyrinth_ was laughable.  
But then when you where the king you could call it whatever you pleased, she guessed.  
And her king was just the right mix of spoiled petulance to call his swamp the Bog of Eternal Stench, so she didn't put anything past him.  
Her last little jaunt through his Labyrinth though had damn near been the end of her, and that attracted her all the more - the adventure that was around every curve, the chance to see something new and exciting that didn't exist in this world anymore.  
She wasn't in any real danger; he wouldn't have let anything happen to her, even if he did let her come close to harm. _The Goblin King had fallen in love with the girl_ , after all, _and he had given her certain powers_. All she had to do was say her right words.  
After taking one last look around her home Sarah turned to climb the stairs. Candles melted along the banister and created a flicking trail toward her bedroom door, illuminating the darkness that was her home.  
She could feel the small creatures that shadowed her leisurely steps; they could feel as well as anything else the change and were eager for it. For the Queen to return home.  
Pausing in her steps, she looked down at the little faces that where fading and reappearing in quick succession at her feet. "Stay. This is between me and Jareth."  
She then turned the old brass handle and walked into the dimly lit room. The door closed with a click and her breath quickened at the air of finality that resounded from it.  
"I wish the Goblin King would come and take me away, _right now_."

\-----

Howling  
The windows had been closed when she had said the words yet there was howling in her ears and wind whipping her hair this way and that.   
She knew it was his doing - it was too dramatic to not be - but she wasn't expecting the instantaneous response to her words.   
The candles extinguished in the wind as it whipped around her room, as if a tornado had sprung forth from her lips . And darkness swirled around her, glittering in the moonlight, forming into strong arms which enveloped her and pulled her back into the cool metal of his breastplate. He wore the armor he'd had on when she had called him the first time.   
She glanced down at the metal clad arms encircling her waist, smiling softly as she took in the shades of black. From the sleeves of his shirt peeking through the armor to the leather gloves encasing his slender fingers it was nothing but pitch dark. She leaned back against him, letting her own fingers trace over the engravings in his armor appreciatively.  
Accidentally on purpose she caressed the pale skin exposed at his wrist and reveled in the small shiver he responded with.  
His head lowered to the crook of her neck, his hair falling around her in disarray and his warm breath puffing over her pulse point. His teeth slid softly against her skin when he spoke.  
“I never thought you would be so foolish as to actually wish yourself away to me, pet. You fancy running the labyrinth to win back your freedom, or are you going to come quietly?”  
She turned her head slightly, running her nose across the line of his cheekbone, lips following the same path to speak directly into his ear. “Isn’t that offer supposed to come with a Gift? A crystal ball with my dreams or some other such pretty promise? I do recall you once saying you would be my slave…”  
“You rejected it once.” His words where tight and clipped against her flesh, wary.   
She nuzzled playfully at the golden strands of his hair. "So I did."

\------

Untameable  
Jareth pulled back to look at her, a skeptical expression on his face. His leather clad fingers tightened on her waist, clearly expecting her to jump away. “I do find myself waiting for you to try it again.”  
She hummed at him in acknowledgment, bringing one hand up to run delicate fingers though his bangs, and watching the glitter that tumbled into her hand. “I called you didn't I?”  
He turned slightly to catch her fingers lightly between his teeth for a moment, not biting hard enough to cause her pain, but enough that she understood his intent. He was a predator and she was within his grasp. “But don't you remember? You _didn't mean it_.”  
She sighed, twisting in his arms and allowing him to drag her body flush with his own. Her arms wrapped leisurely around his neck, and his lips came forward to play against her throat. Both reveled in the contact. “Don't turn my words back on me Jareth.”  
“Oh? And here I thought we had decided that turn about was fair play.” His hands started to trace delicate patterns across the small of her back, deceptively light, belying the anger in his voice.   
Sarah didn't respond to that, deciding instead to be bold and stroke the pointed tips of his ears, causing him to growl and bring a hand up to grasp her curious fingers.   
Ignoring the warning, she took to massaging his palm though the butter soft leather.   
He pulled her tight against him with the hand that was still resting possessively against the small of her back. “You're not playing a victim Sarah.” he purred into her ear, nipping the lobe lightly.   
“don't particularly _feel_ like a victim this time, Jareth, and you don't make for a good villian.” she stopped her ministrations to weave her fingers with his own, leaning her cheek into the warmth that was the back of his hand.  
“ _Don't_ I?” He asked curiously, a bite in his words, even though it seemed as if he was having a hard time retaining his anger in the face of having her in his arms. “You seemed rather set on labeling me as such the last time we met.”   
“No, you love me too much for that.” 

\-----

Rumor  
He laughed, and she could feel it rumbling though her deliciously, deep and throaty and nearly purring. “And how did you come to this conclusion, darling?”  
She ran her lips down the line of his chin, licking at the skin lightly and delighting in the widening of his eyes and the quickening of his heartbeat. “I read it in a very important book.”  
“I wouldn't believe everything you read.” Jareth groaned under her ministrations, lifting his head to give her access to his neck and enjoying the feeling of her blunt human teeth scraping across his jugular. He gasped slightly when her hands released his own to trace a path down his breastplate to the front of his trousers. Fingertips teased against the too-tight fabric. “Scandalous rumors and all.”   
He grasped her wrists with one hand, immobilizing them and pulling them up and above their heads; he was determined to take control of the situation. She merely smiled at him. “You're a horrible liar, Jareth.”  
“Really? One would think I would excel at such an activity being that I'm horribly villainous and morally ambiguous.”  
She gave a rather unladylike snort against his neck at that, trailing the tip of her tongue up the line of his throat and chin and then daintily swiping it against his bottom lip.   
When he gave a shuddering breath she leaned forward to grasp his lip between her teeth, worrying it softly before releasing him to sooth away the sting with her tongue.   
“I wouldn't dismiss my words so quickly, pet. This is not the fairytale world you dreamt of, and I am not what you believe me to be.” 

\-----

Touch  
She sighed against his lips, nuzzling his face in a comforting gesture. “I'm not a child anymore Jareth, and I'm not dreaming you into a role you have to fill.”   
His free hand grabbed her hip hard enough to make her wince, dragging her close to him again and closing the distance her teasing hands had created between them. He leaned down to mimic her previous actions, dragging lips and teeth across her skin but instead grasped hold of her shoulder and biting down. He only released the tender flesh once he had dragged a shuddering whine from her throat.   
He inspected his mark with a smug, distinctly male look of satisfaction. “Such pretty alabaster skin. So easily bruised too. I don't think you could handle the rough treatment, princess. I don't think you could handle all the things I want to do to you.”  
She laughed, sounding by all rights confident - cheeky even - despite being helpless in the arms of a predator. “I can handle anything you dish out, Goblin King.”  
His brows quirked at that, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. Teasing her sensitive skin with the warm leather encasing his hands. “Is that a challenge?”  
Sarah tried shifting her weight, only to have the hand that was playing under her shirt move down her hip to grab her thigh, dragging her leg up to rest against the outside of his own.   
Jareth almost laughed when she swallowed thickly; unsure if she was afraid or merely nervous. But he was impressed when she met his gaze, looking as confident as she sounded.  
“wasn't aware we were playing a game. But I beat you once, I can do it again.”  
This time he did laugh, and it was full of all the dark promises he wished to give her. “Oh we are, Sarah mine, we are. But it is not a game of victors and loss, it is merely a game of dominance. And Pleasure.” 

\-----

Burn  
Sarah rolled her hips against him in a brazen gesture that made his eyes snap up to meet her own. “You’re trying to scare me Jareth, and its not going to work.”   
“I just want you to make an informed decision, Precious. Accepting me is not something to do lightly,” he ground out, fingers twitching against her thigh as he fought the urge to pull her tighter against him and continue with the rhythm she had set.   
“Your just as petulant as I remember.” There was laughter in her voice as she rubbing her hips against his again, quickly making him lose ground in his battle for self control. “What would prove to you that I know what I'm choosing?”  
Moving to whisper into her ear, he let his lips glide over the shell, making her shiver delicately. “Let me show you.”   
“Alright.”  
Leaning close one last time to nuzzle the tender flesh of her neck, he released one of her hands, kissing each digit before finally bringing the appendage down from over her head.   
With his other hand, he twisted it around to form a crystal ball which looked more a bubble than stone. It solidified as he weighed it over his fingers, balancing it. “I've brought you a gift.”  
She looked at curiously, making sure to only view it out of the corner of her eye, rather than staring headlong into the depths of the gem; she had learned the hard way to never take a gift at face value. Not after his Peach. “And what is it this time?”  
Mimicking his actions from their first meeting, he spun the Crystal in his hand, twisting it this way and that, flipping it and twirling it though his fingers to bring it up to her face. “It's a crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you my dreams.”  
“You dreams this time?” She sounded impressed. “That’s a refreshing change; I've always wanted to know what it is you dream of, when you can have anything you wish for.”   
“Take it; come with me,” was his urgent demand. “I could show you such amazing sights. Have you ever seen the Fae dance on all hallows eve? Have you ever tasted the stars? Have you ever bathed in light of the moon so near you could touch it? Just let me rule you, and you can have everything you want.” There was an expectancy in his voice, a pleading note that she ached to make disappear.  
She reached forward, stroking it with light fingertips. “Be careful, Sarah Mine, It could burn you if you're not careful.” His cryptic warning came right before her hand closed over the cool object, and Sarah could only feel the cool stone in her palm. 

\-----

Symphony  
She was running in a darkened room. The floor was water and glass; slanted and not; glowing in its nothingness. Spinning and twirling and wheeling beneath her until she felt as if she were flying and falling and drifting all at once.  
And Sarah was not alone in this swirling world of dark glass and stars that shimmered against a velveteen background of the darkest pitch.   
Strong arms wrapped themselves around her, hands grasping her waist, her hand, weaving fingers in between her own. Mismatched eyes of blue and green twinkled out of the darkness that was enveloping her, slowly solidifying into tangible flesh and fabric.   
Sarah clung to the only seemingly solid thing around her - _him_ \- and he seemed to relish the power he held. “What is this? I thought the crystal was going to show me your dreams?” Her voice sounded distant and far way, as if lost in a strong wind that wasn't actually there.   
“It is, Precious thing. I never said you would only be gazing at them from the relative safety of your bedroom though. Oh no, Sarah, you get to live them for a time, just to see how they taste.”   
She couldn't help the wry smile that curled up her lips. “How they taste huh? Don't tell me you’re going to throw me into one of your smutty fantasy’s.”  
Jareth leaned down to whisper into her ear again, pulling her to waltz with him across the abyss. Such a disconcerting feeling; dancing in the air with nothing under your feet. “That depends, my sweet; what would you like to see first? We have thirteen hours in which to steal the breath from your lungs, and I have too much to show you.”   
She sighed against him, relaxing into their dance. “Show me something old. Older than the both of us.”  
“And how does the Festival of Lights sound to you? The fires of the Samhain celebration have been burning for centuries.” he asked as he twirled her around the dark space, maneuvering them toward a crack of color that shown brightly against the muted colors.   
“I can’t think of a more perfect place to start.”

\-----

Ghost  
Ghost-like shapes started to form around them, but it was as if the dark glass of the abyss was a tangible thing, separating them from the flashes of color and light; the dancers twisting and jumping toward the flames of twin bon fires, teasing and daring the heat to burn them.  
Slowly though, as they waltzed closer the wall of glass became thinner and thinner, until she wasn't sure where the barrier ended and the night sky began.  
He then spun her, and for a dizzying moment she vaguely registered the slip of his glove leaving her fingers, but continued the steps alone; joining the faceless dancers that where passing between the flames.  
And as she spun each twist brought her closer to the tantalizing danger that was the fire; it felt like a childish rebellion, allowing herself to toe the edges of the embers, and feeling their heat against soles of her thin shoes, but it also felt _damn_ good. Each step closer showed her faces and forms in the brightness, beckoning to her with burning fingers, drawing her in. But before she could react to the overwhelming heat brushing against her cheek, strong hands came around her from behind, grasping her hands and twirling her away around one of the sacred fires to join in to the joyous celebration.   
All around them where the thunderous sound of drums and the gatherings collective heartbeat, thrumming in time. Sometimes the dance pulled them apart, sending them spinning around with other faceless dancers. But it always returned them to each other; laughing and promising smiles tilting and shifting as they followed down the line, before breaking apart again.  
And as the drums beat faster, her heart beat with it, until everything suddenly stopped. It was an eerie silence which affected everything. The world seemed to just stop, the dancers frozen in there movement, even the fires ceasing to crackle.   
Everything started to become distant. The warmth of Jareth's hands against the bite of the cool October air less sharp, the swirls of colors in varying shades of red and orange and blue and green seeming less distinct. And as her world started to fade to black around the edges, she fought to focus on his lips and the words they were forming.   
“Do you know that when the fae dance, they use a humans heartbeat for the rhythm of their drums? This is why you should never step into a faeries circle, Sarah; They will never want you to leave, and offer their food to try and keep you.”  
Slowly, almost as if the world was moving in slow motion, she saw his hand raise, twisting a crystal ball into forming a peach, that had one delicate bite taken out of the side.   
That's when everything went black.

\-----

Remembrance  
In the black behind her eyes, it was the abyss again. She was still dancing, keeping in time with an invisible dancer.   
She knew it was Jareth but she couldn't see him; just a swirling of glitter where his form should be. His voice floated out of the darkness around her, and she couldn't be sure where it was coming from. “You know, Precious, that the dreams of a Fae are a dangerous place to tread. We are not as black and white as mortals, and have had a long time to develop a since of perversion.”  
She leaned back, feeling his solid warmth though nothing was there. “You've told me something to that extent before, Goblin King.”   
“And I am not speaking of sexual perversions, Impatient thing.” She could feel the rasping of his breath against her neck, and his voice rang out from somewhere else, setting her on edge.   
“Alright. What sort of game is this Goblin King.” Sarah asked, trying to look around the endless space.  
She felt the prickle of his teeth again her throat and when she moved to touch the spot, pressing fingertips into the tingling flesh, she could still feel them. “Nothing is black and white to us, love mingles with hate in something far deeper than mortals could comprehend. And oh how I hate you, Precious Thing. I would give anything to be able to forget you, and yet I burn for you. Maybe that is why I cannot help but take you here now.”  
He spun her hard then, sending her wheeling across the space. And as her feet finally stopped moving, touching down on solid ground, a candle flickered to life, illuminating the glittering space around her.   
She was not in her abyss anymore, she was in the Oubliette.   
_Its a place you put people to forget about them._

\-----

Hollow  
The Oubliette was exactly how she remembered it; roughly carved stone walls covered in glitter and dust, chains jingling from the ceiling and walls, and the hole that lead from the tunnel of hands.   
Only this time there was no Hoggle with the key to her release, only the hole.   
Cobwebs brushed her hands as the traced the outline of the room with curious fingertips; she'd been too consumed with her mission the last time she had been here to admire.   
It wasn't a beautiful place but it was strange, and sad. Everything about it felt lonely and desolate; a place to forget, indeed. That feeling had her staring at the hole in the ceiling, suddenly _needing_ to see the rest of the labyrinth.   
The hole she was actually tall enough to reach this time.   
Jumping up as high as she could Sarah pushed at the rusting grate, trying to force the hinges into motion. And after a few failed attempts, the old cover finally groaned and lifted slightly out of its setting.   
By the time she'd pushed it up enough to be able to grasp the lip, Sarah was panting from exertion but still running on that panicked need to make sure everything was as it should be in the Labyrinth.   
She jumped one final time, grasping at it, and on shaking arms lifted herself though, into the tunnel of hands.   
And it was hollow. The helping hands were gone as if they had never existed in the first place, leaving only stubs of exposed stone to which she could grasp onto.  
A spike of fear shot though her, spurring her onward to scale the crumbling rock at a furious pace, breaking nails and bloodying fingertips in her haste to reach the top.   
And when she finally clamored over the edge, hoisting herself onto solid ground, she didn't pause to try to take in the state of the tunnel, running franticly to try to get to the end of the arch and view the corner of the Underground that had felt more like home to her in the 10 hours she had spent there, than all her years in her own world.   
It was magnificent. And it was horrible. 

\-----

Taint  
The labyrinth that always haunted her dreams and danced just out of the corner of her eye was now a distant memory. Replaced with crumbling stone walls covered in massive twisting vines that where a maze all their own, and flooded areas where pathways became canals to which dark shapes she couldn't identify traversed, casting shadows in the murky water.  
Cobblestones were pulled from the ground and scattered around with other assorted debris, leaving holes like dark gaping mouths along her way. The few intact walls where covered in gouges and scratches, as if a terrible beast had ravaged the land and left a desolate wasteland in its wake.   
Placing a trembling hand to her mouth, Sarah gazed out over the wreckage that was one her most beloved place; beautiful in its utter ruin. Both sad and sweet in that it was coming back from whatever had destroyed this corner of the Underground.   
Seeing the Labyrinth in such a state made her frantic; Sarah needed proof that the place still had a heartbeat, the thrumming of magic that made it what it was. And the one place she could think of that would still have magic too it, if no where else, was his castle.   
So she ran, leaping over debris and scrambling through massive holes in crumbling stone walls. She climbed over trees which blocked the entirety of the passages and raced along the tops of the walls while water barely lapped over the edges, licking boldly at her boots and showing her dark shapes that grew closer and closer.  
She didn't know where Jareth was, more than likely waiting for her in some forgotten corner letting her absorb all the destruction around her before explaining it all. For all she knew this wasn't even real. He had a bad habit of showing her visions of things that didn't exist just to see how she would react.   
But the cool water that brushed her bare feet felt real enough and the ominous shadows from beneath it trailed her every movement and made her scenes prickle in awareness.   
Grasping hold of a tree branch that was hanging low between one of the canals, she swung herself around to stand its roots which grew out of the water and over the wall, keeping the stone in place and the water firmly behind it.   
“Jareth, whats going on?” 

\-----

Poison  
His voice came from above her head, and she looked up to find him sprawled across the branches of tree, twisting his crystals in an absent manner around his palm, staring out at the Labyrinth with a somber expression. “Such a foolish question, Pet. Everything changes. The Labyrinth is ruled by my will. Emotion can shape its walls or destroy them. And this,” He gestured to the view around them. “Is entirely your doing.”  
“How is it my doing? You just said it was _your_ will that morphed it into what it is now.”  
“I Love my kingdom with the same Passionate _hate_ as I do you. It’s a poison which taints the very walls; feeds them. Its shape and form is a direct interpretation of how much you plague my thoughts. Each element a part of the whole,” she glanced questioningly down at the ominous dark shadows in the water so close to her feet, and he acknowledged the action with a smirk. “Watch your step love, I do believe they would bite harder than I.”   
She stepped back slightly, rising up higher on the roots before turning back to look up at him. “Is there any way to fix it?”  
“Fix it? It’s not broken, Sarah mine. The labyrinth is just as alive as it was before you ever stumbled into it, it is merely different. A reflection of your influence in what was once soully mine.”  
“My influence?”  
He released a single crystal which swirled around the flowering weeds that grew up though the stones at her feet. “The blooms, pet; I certainly didn't create them. That was you. Most of trees where your doing as well; this world _is_ half yours after all, now that you are old enough to claim it.”  
She glanced up at him suspiciously, grasping a bit more tightly the branch in her palms. “You talk like you always knew I would return for it.”  
“Have you never read that silly little poem? _We must not look at goblin men, we must not buy their fruits_. There is a warning in those words you carelessly took no heed to. Now your very being is tied to this place. You had no choice but to return to it; you do not belong anywhere else.”  
Suspicion quickly bowed in the face of anger that had her baring her teeth at him in a snarling of words. Words she was unsure of's origin as they came exploding from her throat. “And in spite of that you would try to refuse me? When you can even say yourself that The Labyrinth is _mine_. The Underground is _mine. You_ are _mine_.”  
He looked down at her then, his gaze cold and calculating. “ _You know that when I hate you, it is because I love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul_.” 

\-----

Breathe  
Jareth leaned forward slightly, brushing her cheek with gloved fingers. “Take some time and admire your kingdom, my Queen.” He then vanished in a swirling of glitter that made everything shimmer in the dimming light, leaving her alone once again in the strange new world she was slowly coming to accept as real.  
Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply before turning to peer down at the water at her feet, at the shadows that circled her. “If this was all created by his will, what emotion made _you_ , I wonder?” Something dark. Vicious and uncontrollable. Dangerous. Some emotion too poisonous for the labyrinth to accept without a fight.   
In a moment of revelation, she spoke again to the shapes beneath her feet. “You're his doubts, aren't you? Everything he fears he can’t have given substance and form.” she bent down to dip curious fingers into the dark water, watching as they grew more agitated, causing the water to ripple and create waves that rolled up over her wrist. “He still thinks I'm going to go back on my word, that's why you’re so focused on me. He needs to see that I'm not going to leave him again.”   
They twisted around her perch faster now, drawing closer to her submerged fingers. “You are mine just as much as you are his; and I'm not afraid of you.”  
Sarah then straightened back up, steeling her nerves as she stared down at the water, and jumped.   
For a moment she was weightless, flying across the twilight sky and the kaleidoscope of colors that rested atop the waves, painting them with the setting sun.   
Then they parted before her descending form, embracing her, almost as if eager to welcome her into their depths, and she sliced though the surface, cool and thick; she felt almost as if she was sinking in ice, the temperature in such stark contrast to her overheated flesh.   
She was still for a moment, letting herself sink. Sarah watched the colors of the sunset filter though down to her, creating rainbows that danced along her vision, broken apart by the dark shapes that swam around her, still indistinguishable in appearance and nothing more than shadows to her eyes.   
It was strange, the way they melted around the edges and she couldn't tell where they ended and the water began, drawing close before retreating out of her vision again. And as she reached for them, fingers barely brushing against obsidian scales, she was suddenly falling faster, being dragged further into the depths by nothing more than her own weight.   
She struggled to kick her feet, fighting against the darkness that was rapidly closing in to no avail, and her lungs burning with the effort.   
Another figure glided toward her in the darkness, this one holding actual shape. All harsh angles and sharp teeth, its streamlined body twisted around her, looking curiously down at her writhing form. It appeared to be some sort of goblin, with grotesque features adapted for the water, and as it reached for her hands that where clawing at her own throat, the creature pressed it's thin lips against her own, pushing air into her mouth, and her eyes closed.   
That's when she felt the shift; she knew she was no longer in the same place before she even opened her eyes. And when she did, she found herself back in his abyss, and it was Jareth wrapped around her, pressing his lips against her own.   
“Foolish girl, don't you know that The Labyrinth is a land _where everything seems possible, and nothing is what it seems? ___”

_\-----_

_Goblin  
“Ordinary girl.” he murmured against her lips, running abnormally long fingers though her hair. He was different. No longer delicately masculine, but a parody of human; all angles and exaggerated lines, delicate points and dangerous claws. His form was human, yet distinctly not. As if he got confused as to whether he was goblin or man and combined them to create something that was disturbing in its beauty. “Must you bend everything in my kingdom to your will?”  
Sarah moved to trace fingers over the extreme angles of his cheekbones, unperturbed by the change. “Only the things that matter. Is this the real you?”  
“That depends on your definition of real, pet. I can be whatever I want to be, but if your questioning if this is the form I was born into, then yes. I _am_ the Goblin King, after all. Did you think I could be anything but? Fae are not human; and anything that leads you to believe us as such is merely a glamor.”   
She didn't comment on that revelation, instead letting her curious fingers ghosted over his flesh, memorizing the lines of his face and neck, down over his chest and shoulders to make a path to his fingertips and back. Methodically inspecting every inch of him, from the tips of his delicately pointed ears, to the wickedly sharp points of his toe claws.  
He allowed the contact without question, awaiting her final judgment and her decision of whether she would continue in her quest to claim the Labyrinth as her own after knowing what truly lurked beneath his flesh.   
“Why didn't you show me this side of you when I bested your Labyrinth the first time?” She asked softly, staring up into his unblinking, alien eyes; hued in unnatural shades of blue and green tinted black.   
Jareth shrugged one shoulder in an inelegant gesture, trying not to break the hold of her hands on his. Fingertips tickled his palm as they charted the lines they found there absently, the feeling made him want to shiver and take her hands to play against another piece of flesh that was begging for her attention. “There was no time, even with all the time in the world resting at my fingertips. You were too young to understand, and too focused on _saving_ Toby from me to care. I was your villain, and villains don't bare their true forms to young girls who would have rejected the truth of what they meant anyway. A million reasons. Take your pick.”  
She head cocked to the side slightly, her knowing look cutting though all of his excuses. “You were afraid of my rejection.”  
He merely inclined his head slightly in return. ”You already had. I saw no point in wounding my pride further.”  
“And how shall I make it up to you then, Goblin King? Take one of the Faeries for you to run my labyrinth and reclaim? Be villainous so you can cower before me? Reorder time? Turn the world upside-down? All that you ask I would do for you.”  
She closed her eyes when he began to slowly walk behind her, leaning forward to whisper directly in her ear, his sharp teeth centimeters from her flesh. “Be careful pet, and remember that faeries bite.” those strange hands of his came up to mirror her own, fitting themselves against her to lead her actions. “Open your eyes.”_

_\-----_

_Sweet Dreams  
So she did. And the moment Sarah's eyes fluttered open; she was assaulted with the image of a room she'd never been in before. A woman she'd never seen before. Speaking a language she'd never heard, but understood all the same.   
“You're her aren't you? You're the Goblin Queen.”  
From behind her she could hear his whisper against the shell of her ear, fingers coming down to play against her hips and tracing the seams he found there. Deceptively light but teasing all the same. “She can’t see me, pet, just like none of your mortal _‘friends’_ could; this is for you to do. You want to be the goblin queen so bad, _be her_.”  
“I… I didn’t think you were real. You’re just a story! I didn’t mean it! Please give me my niece back.”   
“ _Say your right words, the goblins said_.” He whispered in her ear as his hands splayed out over her inner thighs, fingers just barely grazing the crotch of her jeans. She knew exactly of the words of which he spoke; she distinctly remembered this scene with frightening clarity.  
“What’s said is said.” She was surprised she’d managed to get out the words without stuttering, but the victory was hallowing, as her voice weak and shaky.   
It was odd, seeing the panic in the face of the woman that so mirrored what was once her own. She could see it, but not feel it, and that made the entire situation that much more surreal. “Oh god, I didn’t mean it!”   
“Oh you didn’t?” Sarah asked; mimicking the sarcastic note she remembered him taking. She crossed her arms to try and stop their shaking. This was another roll. Just another act; and she could do this. She had too.   
“Please, where is she?” the woman pleaded with her, taking a hesitant step forward as she wrung her hands together in desperation.   
The Goblin Kings hands moving against her in such sensual ways actually helping to calm her; helping her to focus. She’d dealt with this before at least, it was something familiar in this haze of new; his phantom hands ghosting over her skin at improper times, pulling her back to grind into overheated flesh. “That’s it darling. You can do it.” He breathed into her ear, tongue snaking out to lick the flesh just below it. Causing her to shiver in reply.   
“You know very well where she is.”  
The woman ran a shaking hand though her hair looking at her in ways that would have sent a pang of guilt though her before. But now, now she has a job to do, and she didn’t have time for guilt. “Please bring her back. Please.”  
“Approach her, pet. Make her cower before you.” He urged, fingertips pressing into the small of her back, forcing her to take a step towards the woman while he took to his knees. It was hard to concentrate on looking menacing and queen like when the king was on his knees behind her, hands grasping and squeezing at her flesh, teeth coming down on the lower curve of her rear, biting her though the thin material of her jeans.   
“Go back to your room; play with your toys and your clothes. Forget about the baby.” She demanded, wishing desperately to be able to kick the man who was now currently wrapping arms around her thighs to anchor her to him while he played with her, but knowing that she would fail in her task if she allowed him to distract her into not doing this _right_.   
“I can’t.” she cried pitifully. “Oh god; please, it’s my sisters girl, I _can’t_.”  
Sarah ignored the girls pleading, not even having time to wonder how this next part would play out when she felt him sliding up her body, dragging lips against her back as he did and bringing one hand forward in place of her own to produce a crystal. “I’ve brought you a gift.”  
Wary eyes followed at the proffered hand as it slowly began to roll and twist, and for a moment until she focused on it, it looked like her own. “What is it?”   
This part would be easy, even with a goblin king fit tight to her back, rolling hips against her ass and hand playing between her legs; she knew these words. “It's a crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams. But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl, who takes care of a screaming baby.” At her curious silence, Sarah continued. “Do you want it? Then forget the baby.”  
The woman reached forward with hesitant fingers, right as his reached the apex of her thigh. And the image vanished in a shower of glitter. _

_Altar  
“Did you enjoy your first taste of what it would be like to rule by my side, pet?” he released her, fingertips tracing a path from the apex of her thighs back up her hips and around to the small of her back as he walked to face her, leaning his forehead against her own, eyes closed. “It would be so much more than just basking in remembered pleasure and luxuriating in the feel of our passion. You would have to be the Queen I need, and that would require you to embrace the more unsavory aspects that come with the title. It was cruel of me to force your hand, but you would have to do those things; claiming the unwanted, presiding over our kingdom. You cannot be her without _being_ her.”  
One of his hands came up to grasp hers, weaving fingers in between her own as he began to move them in a gentle sway. She found her other hand wrapping around his back, allowing him to guide her body closer to his in a touch that was surprisingly chaste in the face of earlier passion.   
“I told you once that when I hate you it is because love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul. I did not lie to you. And the urge to worship even inch of you, to prove my devotion, is just as powerful as the urge to forget you. To find a way to be rid of your very existence and erase the feel of you from my memory. I want to use my hands to make you feel like the queen I know you can be. To mold you with my lips, my tongue, my teeth, until you are flying apart at the seams. I want to know what you look like while on the cusp of ecstasy.” The hand that was guiding her hips trailed up to her face, cupping her cheek in his palm. “And yet I simultaneously wish to court you, to treat you to lavish gifts and opulent balls in your name until I’ve won you. I want to make you see that I can be more than just your dirty fantasies whilst staring in them.”  
He looked at her then with half lidded eyes of blue and green, fingertips coming up to wipe away a stray tear that had escaped her own. “How you turn my world, you precious thing.” _

_Forgiveness  
“Let me create for you an image so beautiful that it steals the breath from your lungs and the beating from your chest. Give me that chance, to prove I could do these things for you, because I need to be your forever.”  
Her hand came up over his on her cheek, comforting him with her warmth.   
“It’s only forever,” she murmured, lips ghosting over his in a whisper of a caress. “Not long at all.”  
He laughed softly, moving their intertwined hands to press between them, so that she could feel the rapid beating of their hearts thrumming in time. “If you asked it of me, I would reorder time so that we could live forever in this moment. I would turn the world upside down, so that I was all you knew, so that I could capture you with my spell and you would realize that you love me. If you asked me to, I would move the stars to suit your mood. Anything you desire, lying in the palm of your hand.”  
Sarah leaned down to kiss each of his fingers, closing her eyes when she felt him nuzzle into her hair as they swayed around the space. “And here I thought I was my turn to grant your wishes, instead of just my own. It’s only _fair_ , after all. Anything you ask of me, I will give you.”  
“Tell me then,” was his urgent reply, words muffled and face hidden. “That is my only request of you. Tell me why you refused me. Tell me why you left.”  
“Because even with the power to reorder time at your fingertips, _it wasn’t the right time_.” Any thought of protest died on his lips when he felt her blunt human teeth scraping over his jugular. “I was a child Jareth. A scared little girl who had to choose between saving her brother and having everything she’d ever wanted. Could you have really loved me had I chose any differently?”  
“Beware, my pet.” His breathing was harsh against her ear, fingers gripping her hair harshly as he forced her to bear her throat to him, mimicking her actions of moments ago. “For the path you take will lead you to certain destruction.”_

_\-----_

_Lonely  
“You fight against me so hard, yet I can see your desire to give in. What are you holding back? Why?” she whispered against his throat, fingers digging into the lapels of his coat as if to keep him there from vanishing.   
“I am fighting against loss, you silly girl.” He hissed. “I’m fighting against this moment because moments are fleeting. Moments slip through your fingers with the barest of ease, shining like glitter in your palm for but a moment before you even realize they’ve left you. And you’re left with not but the remains, haunting you, rubbing off onto everything you are until all of you shimmers with remembrance.”  
Sarah made no move to comfort him, merely allowing her arms to drop from around him, as he placed his head against the crook of her neck, fingers painfully tight on her biceps. She allowed him this, because he needed it.   
“You don’t realize how painful those moments are until they’ve gone; glitter like glass. The shards imbedding when they stick, painful points of time that brand you. Altering you, in that you can never become who you were before. You taint me.”  
“But is that taint really so bad?” she asked softly. “Would you really forget me had you the option?”   
He was quiet for a time before replying. “No, but I dream of it sometimes. I dream of freeing myself from your memory. From the piece of you that have become a part of me. I was a king before you, Sarah mine, and I am now but a slave at your feet.”_

_\-----_

_Resolution  
“I fight you because you will be gone in a blink of an eye. A moment as fleeting those which I so desperately loath. You may be here now, but that is but a second in my memory; I can see the end, I can see you leave. And from that departure I cannot reclaim you. I would rather forget you than have you stolen from me by the time in which I hold in the palm of my hand.”  
Sarah sighed, grabbing hold of his face between her hands so that she could look into his eyes. “Then why not live in the moment? Life is an accumulation of moments; all of them fleeting, all of them bittersweet in their intensity. So why not enjoy what we have in this single moment, rather than fight for a less painful future?”  
“Because I want more than a moment.” He whispered fervently, as if afraid to speak any louder. Afraid that if his words were more than a melody on the breeze, that they would wash everything away. “I want an eternity. I want to watch you, unageing by my side, while the mortal world becomes nothing more than rust and star dust.”  
“It’s not fair.” She acknowledged, a wiry smile curling up her lips when he mouthed his right words against her throat, a smile settling against his as well. “But we still have time. Shouldn’t we make the most of it before it’s gone? I would much rather enjoy what I want here, instead of living in the future knowing I could have had it and let it slip away.”  
He sighed, coming to look up at her. “Then should we not proceed? Our 13 hours are almost up, and there is much to see.” At her nod of acceptance, he continued. “There are some who reside within my kingdom that miss you, I do think it is fitting for your next visit to be to them.”_

_\-----_

_Sleepwalking  
All she could see where flashes of light, swirls of colors that twisted though her vision in a dizzying moment of movement before everything stopped, her vision reeling in an attempt to settle onto something solid.  
When she finally blinked the haze away, she was met with an image of the shrub maze; the untouched courtyard where she was met the Wiseman all those years before. And all around her where stone figures, statues carved in the likeness of her former companions. Exquisite in their detail, startling in their expression.   
“What happened to them?” And it was nothing more than a whisper, a murmuring that was almost lost to the wind. But he heard her, she knew he did.   
“The Labyrinth changes for each quester that enters its walls. They were merely designed to be what you needed, so upon your leave of this place, they became a part of the whole again. Only to come to life should you need them once more. Give it a minute, and the Labyrinth will release them for your pleasure.”  
He was right; as she stood there staring at the likenesses of her friends, color slowly started to leak into them. First faint, with the grey parlor of death, then the stronger beginnings of life until they were moving, breathing specters from her past.   
“Sarah!” They chorused, as if they had seen her but yesterday and not many months prior. As if they had no knowing that they were just carved from the very walls of the Labyrinth with no real sentience besides that which it chose to give them.   
“Hey guys.” There was a hesitance in her voice, a down turning of her lips that they didn’t seem to notice.   
“They are still the same beings you knew,” the goblin king murmured in her ear, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. “They are no different now that you have the knowledge of their creation, merely think of it as the Labyrinths way of preserving them for you. Bowing to its queens wishes so that she might keep her friends longer. They are free to roam and live while you remain within the kingdom.”_

_\-----_

_Distance  
Sarah stepped forward into the comforting embrace of her former companions, allowing the familiarity to wash over her.  
“Sarah!” Ludo thundered, lifting her up and spinning her around. “Sarah friend!”   
She laughed slightly at that as he set her back on her feet, petting the great, gentle beast's head with all the affection of a parent.   
“Hey there big guy.” her words faltered slightly; catching in her throat as she looked back that the faces she hadn't seen in far too long, noting the distance between the young girl that had befriended them, and the desperate woman she was now.  
“Sarah! What are you doing back? And with him!” Hoggle cried, moving to shield her from the Goblin King at her back. “It's too dangerous for you to be here!”  
“It's alright.” she told him softly, taking his hand in hers for a moment. “Really.”  
“What do you mean, my lady?” Sir Didymus asked, his spear raised. “Is he not our great enemy from that battlefield in the past?”  
“No.” she replied, a sad smiling curling up her lips. “He wasn't the villain. Not really. I just wanted him to be.” She took a step back, closer to Jareth, turning to him almost hesitantly. “And should I stay, would they regain their life? Permanently? Or would I have to call upon the Labyrinth to free them?”  
Jareth dipped his head in reply to her question. “This is the temptation of the world that is drawing you onward, my sweet.” he told her simply. “This is but a taste of what you could have back. But I fear it is time for us to move back; to a temptation of the world in which you would be leaving behind. You cannot make a choice without knowing of what you will be giving away to time.”_

_\-----_

_Dark  
Sarah stepped away from her former companions, much to their dismay, and into the arms of her one-time enemy. Allowing him to sweep her back beneath the warmth of his cloak. “I'll be coming back,” she promised them, her arms weaving with Jareth's as if they were dancers about to begin a great waltz. “Don't you worry about me.”  
“I wouldn't tell them _that_ , pet.” the Goblin King told her, his face dangerously close to hers. “You once again find yourself in the arms of a predator; they have every right to worry. I will destroy you just as thoroughly as you did me, should you not tread lightly.”   
Sarah just leaned up to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “After everything we've seen tonight, you still try to convince me to turn back.” there was dark amusement in her tone. “Come then. Take me to your next trial; show me what I should overcome so as to convince you that here is where I belong.”  
“No.” he whispered harshly, fingers tightening around her own. “You are a fae-touched mortal. You are my victorious quest-er, but you are not of this world. You belong everywhere and nowhere all at once.”   
“I belong with _you_. I belong by _ your side; walking the thin line of the worlds with you and holding your hand as we pass though untold centuries.” she told him, voice patient and kind, soothing the rough edges of his soul-wounds. And when she finally looked up, they were no long standing in the hedge maze she'd still never found the time to admire; they were standing wrapped in one another's embrace, a darkened windowpane before them.  
“Look then, my eternal one. See what you would have to leave behind should you choose me.”  
Sleeping peacefully snuggled within his blankets beyond the thin barrier of glass, was Toby. 

\-----

Impossible  
“You really do ask the impossible.” she murmured, fingertips pressed into the slightly frosted glass. “You attempt to break my heart and resolve at every possible turn.”  
Jareth merely pulled his hands back from her, allowing her a much needed moment of gazing at the last member of her family that didn't see her as a freak. “Do you really want to leave him behind? The boy who still holds your hand and looks at you as if you hung the moon? The boy who defends your differences and oddities? Could you really give him up for an eternity? Because you cannot have him back should you choose a life as my queen.” he whispered harshly, as if reliving some old hurt of his own.   
“Ours is a land of monsters and myth, my love.” she replied, just as softly. Just as sadly. “Ours is no place for a young boy. He deserves a chance as what I could never have.”  
“And what is that, precious thing?” Jareth asked her, stepping forward so that he could gaze though the glass with her.   
“A life.” came her simple reply. “A real one. Not this fractured, half-shadowed existence; riding the line of real and make-believe. Where spirits wave at you from behind the faces of neighbors, and you don't know to which you are acknowledging. He deserves the chance to grow up. To see the world as pure and beautiful and maybe even a little fantastic.”  
“How fantastic do you think his world will become,” Jareth began, almost regretfully. “When his sister disappears, never to be seen again?”  
Sarah was quiet for a long moment, just staring at her brother. “I'll spare him that pain, Jareth. I'll make him forget that I ever existed at all.”  
“You would do that for the ones you love? For the ones you are leaving behind?”  
“It's no more than you did for yours, when you took up the title of king.”

\-----

Sacred   
Jareth was silent by her side, watching her watch the last person she held dear on this earth, before finally making her an offer she never thought she would hear him utter. “I can help you; I'll give him any wish you please.”  
Sarah turned slightly to look up at him in surprise, and the expression on his face unreadable. She fought the urge to ask him what the cost of such a thing would be, but instead she merely nodded; choosing instead to trust the man at her side. “Please.”  
The Goblin King lifted a hand then to rest before her chest, forming a crystal-ball in his palm. “Just think of what you wish him to dream, my pet, and sent it off to him.”  
Sarah looked at the distorted image in the surface of the polished stone for a moment, a sad smile creeping up her face, and she bent to place a soft kiss to the cold surface before softly blowing on it; sending it softly floating through the air to the boy's side.   
It landed on the pillow beside his head, and Jareth's hand came to rest in hers when her head found his shoulder.   
“Sweet dreams, little guy.” she whispered. “I love you.”   
Her companion with the mismatched eyes drew her back from the sight then. “He won't ever remember he even had a sister, you know.”  
“I know.” she replied. “It's the least I could do for him; I owed him that much.”  
“Come then, it is time to go home.”

\-----

Magic   
Sarah was more used to the feeling of magics swirling around her, -sending her moving between worlds- than she thought she ever really had a right to be. And the abyss behind her eyes was quickly becoming more like home to her than any other place she'd ever tried to claim as her own.  
And so she was quiet for a time, just… admiring the dark dream-scape while Jareth danced her though the endless space. They could have spent an eternity there, never tiring. Never feeling hunger or the need for rest. “I don't think I ever really asked you about this place.”  
“It's everything and it is nothing, pet.”   
“That's not a real answer and you know it.” she replied as they twirled; her feet feeling the differences as they moved from grass to stone to soil and back all in the space of a moment.   
“It is truth enough.” he told her. “Any other definition would be far too telling. Far too much for you to understand as a mortal.”  
“Then make me something else.” Sarah told him, feeling them come to rest on stone and settle into a close swaying. “Make me more and less than mortal. Make me into Make-believe.”  
Jareth spun her around then, to view where they had landed; the throne room. “Be careful what you wish for.” came his soft whispering.

\-----

Chase   
“I tire of this chase, my pet, and time has grown short.” He told her, staring at the clock behind his throne that was spinning ever faster and faster. “There is one last sight you must behold; one last image you must view before I can accept your consent.”  
“And what is that?” she questioned, allowing him to tow her along the outskirts of the room and to a staircase that spiraled up into a section of the castle she'd never before had the opportunity to view.   
“The future you are accepting. I told you once that The Fae are immortal; and have had a long time to polish a since of perversion. It is time for you to fully understand of what that means.”  
The brunette nodded slightly at that; stomach fluttering in nervousness and anticipation of just what was to be awaiting her at their destination.  
“Show me then.” came her quiet reply as they rose higher and higher; up to a floor that looked to be a personal section of the castle; someplace inhabited. “Show me that what you think might still be able to scare me away so that I can again put your fears to rest.”  
His hand closed on the latch of a heavy door, pushing it open with an ominous creaking that set her nerves on edge.   
It was a bedroom. Darkly masculine and whimsically opulent. Distinctly his. 

\-----

Animal  
The Goblin king lead her forward through the great space, giving her little time to admire the opulence around her before they stopped before the centerpiece of the room  
Arms wrapped languidly around her middle as she stood before the edge of his bed, gazing back at the giant, messy, monstrosity of wood and silk and velvet.  
“Turn back, Sarah. Turn back before it's too late.” he breathed into her ear, falling into his old role of a villain with ease and reveling in the sound of her heart thundering in her chest as she realized just what all was draped so casually in amongst his bedding; ropes and sashes and metal cuffs that looped through his pillows only to get lost again.  
Sarah returned with her customary line without thought, fingers coming forward to trace over the intricate carving of a wild hunt on the foot-board. “I can't. don't you understand I can't?”  
His laughter was dark and pleased behind her as his fingers tightening on her hips and his teeth nipped at the silky column of her throat. “What a pity.” 

\-----

Forever  
Early on the dawn of November the first, with the festivities of our local Halloween celebration still in full swing, a fire broke out in the old Victorian home on Cedar Drive, belonging to a Miss Sarah Williams; a local recluse who was only really seen on her occasional ventures from her home.   
The town landmark, sadly, could not be saved from the blaze even with the efforts of our brave firefighters, and the body of the young woman could not be found amongst the rubble though the search continues for the missing owner. No leads have yet to be found, as it seems that the woman had no family to speak of, and fewer people who were even of her acquaintance.   
Stranger still, were the few untouched objects that investigators uncovered that seemed to be involved in some sort of dark arts; A broken mirror, a clear ball of crystal, a single white feather that is believed to belong to some type of owl, and a note that held a single line of text: “It's only forever; not long at all.”  
The community is going to be gathering in the park to hold a ceremony for the young woman, and should she not be found, our local mortuary has offered to create a marker for her, though we are asking residents for donations to the cause, and to attend our monthly meeting to decide what should be done about the properties clean-up.   
If you would like to donate, or have any sort of pertinent information to the case, please report to Town Hall in a timely manner.

_Even if you reach the center, you'll never get out again._


End file.
